Lately, we've been hearing the term "wabi-sabi" being thrown around a lot. Example 1: Overheard at last weekend's swap meet: "Those teacups are awesome--so wabi-sabi!" Example 2: On the hunt for a dining table, our friend was hitting up all kinds of architecture salvage yards, explaining, "I don't want a run-of-the-mill dining table, I want something with history and age...you know, wabi-sabi style." Finally, when we got the previous issue of Sköna Hem and saw their feature on wabi-sabi, we figured it was a sign to do some research and see what all the fuss was about...
Wabi-sabi is the art of finding beauty in imperfection: it values simplicity, uncluttered, underplayed, and modest surroundings. Authenticity is key to wabi-sabi philosophy: the presence of cracks and scratches in things are considered to be symbolic of the passing of time, weather, and loving use--and should be embraced. Another facet to wabi-sabi is the idea of the "obvious pretty" vs. "unique beauty." (Or, as one of the articles we read describes it, "Marilyn Monroe vs. Katherine Hepburn").
Unlike shabby chic, wabi-sabi decor inspires minimalism that focuses more on the people who live in the space than anything else. Possessions and other items are pared down to the essentials based on utility, beauty, or nostalgia (or all three). The color palette sways toward whites and earth tones thanks to the use of natural materials. It's almost Shaker-style in its approach: live modestly, and learn to be satisfied with life as it can be once the unnecessary is stripped away.
Wabi-sabi enthusiasts (called "wabibitos") are described as being "a person who could make something complete out of eight parts when most of us would use ten." Practically speaking, this could be the act of living in smaller home, driving a smaller car, or even eating just enough to be pleasantly full this Thanksgiving holiday.
After reading a few articles on wabi-sabi, we're inspired to try this out (New Years is right around the corner after all). What do you think of wabi-sabi?
[ Photos from Sköna Hem and Emmas Design Blogg ]
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I think it's cultural appropriation.
i think it's one of those things that's been around for a long while, but only now has an interesting name to it. which begs the question, where in the heck did the name come from?
Concept works for me as I hate clutter and I wouldn't part with my 20 year old leather chair for anything. I even like my oldest, tattered, well-read books. They're as cherished as an old friend with wrinkles and white hair.
I've had this book for years, and it's fantastic:
http://www.amazon.com/Wabi-Sabi-House-Japanese-Imperfect-Beauty/dp/1400050464/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1227548859&sr=1-6
I think the very idea of a wabi-sabi "trend" is an oxymoron.
Forgive me, but isn't this the same premise as "shabby chic?"
I do, though, find it ironic that all those "imperfect" pieces are so perfectly displayed and arranged.
Gotta love it.
Great read, also:
http://www.startribune.com/templates/Print_This_Story?sid=11312791
There's no direct translation, but essentially the term refers to "the art of finding beauty in things humble, imperfect and aged," said Robyn Griggs Lawrence, author of "The Wabi-Sabi House."
darlingcaro:
"Simply put, wabi-sabi is the marriage of the Japanese wabi, meaning humble, and sabi, which connotes beauty in the natural progression of time. Together, the phrase invites us to set aside our pursuit of perfection and learn to appreciate the simple, unaffected beauty of things as they are."
Like shabby chic? No! "It's not shabby," said landscape designer Gayle Fleming. And it's not chic, said architect Sarah Susanka. "Chic to me means fashion; wabi-sabi is not trendy."
I'm sorry, but if it has a name (wabi-sabi), then it's trendy
i had no idea there was a name for this. i just called it being practical!
this is how i decorate my place, but i don't do the all white shaker style. i do it in a more MOLD (modern-old) style.
Wabi Sabi on Abbott Kinney has a delicious calamari salad.
williamsweyr, agreed completely!
I have made the conscious effort to rehome/donate/sell one item per each new item acquired in the past few years. I have only recently begun to find it harder and harder to eliminate objects due to the utility/beauty/nostalgia rule. I have cleared out most of the unnecessary elements in my design/wardrobe/life. It's quite cleansing and comforting to feel the objects in your home are items you truly love and use. I wish I could get my mom to sort out her home; I know it'd take a weight off her shoulders.
Slightly off-topic; in response to the photos above: Damn me and my love for pomegranates and red wine. I wish I could live in a pure white home. It's simple, serene, and calming. I, however, am not. :)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabi-sabi
I love the look and have a few pieces that would fall under this umbrella but the terminology makes me hanker for tequila.
Yeah, i wanted to add to my post. I like the style but it's more of a lifestyle for me than a "style". I don't want to buy everything from one store or buy the matching sofa set.. I just buy things that I like (from flea markets, retail stores, craigslist.. wherever) and it works. I just don't like putting such a name on it.
Wayne Hemingway coined a word earlier this year that kinda fits: Shabbalism. Shabby Chic (increasingly hating that term) meets Minimalism. I was a pretty untidy minimalist in the '90's so this all looks very familiar
Wow, i didn't even know this was a style! I am glad though because this is exactly what i love. I love that has a meaning not something you bought because you are decorating. Minimalism is important to me. Clean spaces, no junk, organized, livable and eco-friendly. Old things are junk to me, in fact i really like things from the past if they have a use, beauty and meaning. Guess im a wabibito, love the post!
I have a book about wabi-sabi that was published in the 80s, and it discussed (at length) that wabi-sabi was involved in Japanese tea ceremonies. The book also discussed art and aesthetics, but didn't center around home design/decor.
I think that a lot of these trends are thing that have been around for a while--wabi-sabi, feng shui, simplicity--but are embraced and commercialized on such a large-scale level so quickly that the relevance and beauty of their philosophies is lost.
I have decided that anyone who doesn't design their place to just be happy and practical should be slapped.
I think it's an interesting concept. I try to use a minimalist approach, and make sure everything that comes in is something I love, and can find use for. Overall, the thing I am lacking is the natural aspect, I love color too much! Which is probably why most of my yard sale finds are spray painted and given new life.
Contrary to the concept, the execution seems very cold and unfinished to me. Then again, I never dug the shabby chic thing either. To each his own!
wow. get out much?
the wabi-sabi philosophy has been around for quite a long time and there's nothing new or trendy about it.
Oh, let's just all read Mark Doty's lovely Still Life With Oysters and Lemon instead. It approaches similar ideas, but isn't annoying!
The only thing culturally apropriated is the name.
Call it Wabi Sabi, call it Thrift Style, call it (gag) Shabby Chic; it's all the same thing: relinquishing our demand for perfection in the home environment.
Sabi is more about rustic unpretentiousness or archaic imperfection, apparent simplicity or effortlessness in execution, and richness in historical associations. Wabi is the aesthetic appreciation of poverty (but not if you're actually poor), like those fake newspaper duvets.
For example:
"Somebody once remarked that thin silk was not satisfactory as a scroll wrapping because it was so easily torn. Ton’a replied, “It is only after the silk wrapper has frayed at top and bottom, and the mother-of-pearl has fallen from the roller that a scroll looks beautiful.”
(Donald Keene, Seeds in the Heart).
Not the same as fraying polyester. There's a snob factor in the real aesthetic, which developed as a reaction to the slickness and perfection of the Chinese tea ceremony. Rustic handcrafts (but still of great price) were introduced by the Japanese as an alternative to Chinese porcelain.
Contrast Nakashima to Chippendale.
Another good book: "Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets, and Philosophers". One of my architecture professors had me read this when I was too obsessed with perfection. Made me appreciate imperfection due to the human hand. http://www.amazon.com/Wabi-Sabi-Artists-Designers-Poets-Philosophers/dp/1880656124/ref=pd_sim_b_2
I hate that we have to brand and categorize everything.
I claim no expertise, but four urns dominating a windowsill is not the humble simplicity I associate with wabi sabi. Neither is an all-white space with a hanging bassinet. Or a bed with three (five?) pillows. I am intentionally ignoring the crystal chandelier.
I feel the most important thing to take away from this "new" term is that a single object can be meaningful; that it does not need to be crowded in a vignette or refinished with high gloss paint to have impact.
I think it yet another way for the retail industry to take the price of found pieces and jack them up so that commoners can no longer afford them. Sort of like what happened to all the mid centry gems in the thrift stores....cynical ??
maybe juss a lil.
How did "wabi-sabi" elude the good people of apartment therapy? This is not a new design trend or movement. This has been around forever and is more akin to a view of the world. It is not about price point at all (unless you are really lazy and need a pricey boutique to explain to you why a simple undyed slub linen duvet constitutes "wabi sabi.")
I first heard about this in a design context in the mid '90's when Calvin Klein launched his ultra minimalist home line and cited the concept of "wabi-sabi" as one of his primary design inspirations. So even in design context, this shouldn't be news.
Um, I don't think wabi-sabi has much to do with shabby chic or thrift style. I also don't think humble or modest quite captures the essence of wabi-sabi, as the objects can be truly exquisite, if unassuming. But clearly, Wabi-sabi as a "trend" or "style" seems like a contradiction in terms.
Wabi sabi is an idea that has been around as part of Japanese culture for a long time and it isn't related to interior design. It's related to appreciating incompleteness, temporary nature of things, and imperfection in life. Things like viewing cherry blossoms and viewing leaves in autumn are a part of this idea.
Of course, if Western business can appropriate it as a name (naming anything with Japanese words and saying it's Japanese automatically makes the design snobs sit up and take notice) and start tossing the concept about in a pretentious way, it's pretty much money in the bank. :-p
Yeah--those photos don't really say wabisabi to me. A Nakashima piece, which allows the natural flaws in the wood to remain. Raw silk, with it's slubs and knots. Grass cloth wallpaper, with it's varied blade widths. Hand thrown pottery, with drips in the glaze, but deep mottled colors. Maybe even a very old handmade quilt, with some of the patches worn off. Maybe a new piece, maybe old. Collections of objects (like lined up sets of salt and pepper shakers, or fridge magnets) aren't really wabisabi. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Not EVERY shabby chic room was covered in doilies -- a bunch were simple. It was all about the lines and the patina. This really isn't so different.
Every picture here would make as much sense captioned shabby chic. The only thing missing is the florals and the argument could be made that was the one component of shabby chic that took some courage.
"I'm sorry, but if it has a name (wabi-sabi), then it's trendy"
I'm sure you realize how stupid that statment is now that you see it. Right?
"Wabi Sabi..." by Leonard Koren is probably the most inspiring book I have ever read. I highly recommend it.
I think the above photos are more shabbilism (thanks lares!) - they are obviously staged, not lived-in, definitely not wabi-sabi. Wabi-sabi spaces, like tea rooms, are generally very small, intimate and cozy, lived, loved. I would love to see an article that more closely reflected the ideas of wabi-sabi. So inspiring.
By the way, I think whether it's trendy or not is irrelevant ~ authenticity, truth, tiny details, nature... these things will never be out of style, no matter what term people use for them.
I don't see this as a trend and I believe this is inherent way or sense of style and a lifestyle. Something to inspire to but not a tangible style.
I have know a couple of people that live in this way (lifestyle) and are able to turn the most simple findings and make their homes into works of art.
My home is pretty minimal, I don't have clutter (except my office) I have had the same furniture for many years, I use natural cleaning products, etc. However, I would never be able to pull off this style or way or feel. I do see beauty in nature all the time and in the most mundane of objects but just don't have the "wabi sabi" its just not forced either you have it or you don't.
I have seen it here I think twice, I wish I could remember the house tour names.
Having a name doesn't mean that something is trendy ( Democracy?). Wabi Sabi is an apt name applied to a ethos that has been around forever- we just keep rediscovering it. It is a good concept to embrace right now- seeking beauty in what is old and servicable, and spare. There is a season for everthing, and this just might be the season of Wabi Sabi. Thank goodness.
I can't believe how many ways commenters parse the phrase wabi-sabi and plumb this post for things to criticize and analyze ... I guess it makes them feel like they are saying something profound.
For crying out loud.
"the art of finding beauty in things humble, imperfect and aged," ...
So then my husband has been the wabi-sabi connoisseur for all this time!?! (ok, so I am getting a little older but wouldn't exactly call it "aged")
S~
http://www.everlastingdesigns.net
How can wabi sabi be a trendy thing if it's been around for such a long time?
People are just putting a name to it, that's all, Laura.
we think adaptations of cultural aethetics or modes of living can be highly useful, refreshing even, fun to share and compare. we think imposed trends of various sorts are boring and take to new marketing terminology w/trepidation or in some cases, not at all.
'seaside', 'protogarette' - what would i do w/o the belly laughs you two give me.
in all seriousness, though, i agree w/'LoriSF', as well: "Something to inspire... but not a tangible style". More a life-style.. which the author alluded to.
'particlebored' - w/all due respect, the feeling & functionality intended in your examples is absolutely related. as is the traditional swedish aesthetic.
'brickhouse' - pretty much. though last month i scored a $9. danish modern chair at m'local. similar to this, though even dreamier. don't give up! :>
omg.. another old post i'm fired up about. lol
Heck I am just impressed everyone got through a post without mentioning 'mid century modern' or 'vintage danish'...
America is such a superficial society, that's why we have to label everything. And while WabiSabi itself is not a "trend" we tend to make a "trend" out of everything, and then eventually toss it aside. I like the concept, but I don't care for "distressed" furniture or shabby chic! I don't buy into the buying something because it has "history". I like to create my own history by having things that actually mean something to me or my family, not some stranger.Besides, a well made piece of furniture,however old, tends to appeal to me more than some scratched up, "distressed" junk! I have no problem buying used stuff, but its for practicality.
As I understand it, Wabi Sabi is actually an ancient Japanese art form that honors all things old, worn, weathered, imperfect and impermanent...and it's intent is to seek to find perfection in beauty in the imperfect whether it be in a material item, a person, a place or a happening......it is a way of life to show reverence and love for all things.
Wabi Sabi is not simplicity in and of it's self. Humble beauty can be found in the midst of chaos and still be Wabi Sabi.....because it is loved for it's self, as it is right now.